Chapter added: June 5, 2005
Diagon Alley:
"That's it up ahead. The Leaky Cauldron. It is a very famous wizarding pub, and there is an entrance to Diagon Alley in the back. The Cauldron serves both food and drinks, and it has rooms to rent on the upper floors," explained Ella.
The party had successfully navigated their way from the park, to the underground, into London, and finally up to the entrance of the wizarding world. While normally a group of thirty-nine children parading through London would draw attention, Harry had managed to cast some charms about the group... Ella called it a notice-me-not spell, similar to what magic folk used to hide things from muggles.
"That's a famous place?" "Looks awfully dirty!" "People actually eat in there?" came from the girls.
"Well, it is supposed to look that way!" defended Ella. "We can't have trolls and dragons hanging out right in plain sight! With the place looking like this, nobody would go inside even if they could see past the charms and wards. Trust me, the wizarding world gets much more impressive than this. Just wait until you see Gringotts!" She then frowned for a moment. "Just to warn you, the magic world may seem to be a hundred years or so behind the times. Most places still used gas lighting, if they aren't still using wall torches and candles. Electricity usually doesn't work around magic, so you won't see any electric lights."
Harry and his thirty-seven squib girlfriends followed Ella through the doors of the Leaky Cauldron and out to the alley in back. Before anyone could complain, she drew her wand and touched it to the specific bricks that opened the portal to the hidden world. "Ladies and Harry, welcome to Diagon Alley!"
The now stunned children walked slowly through the portal, their eyes dashing from one amazing sight to the next. There were stores selling broomsticks, cauldrons of all types, owls of all size, and all sorts of strange and disgusting potions ingredients. They saw things that they never knew existed, and things they had only seen before in movies about magic. It was amazing to realize that so many of these things were actually real.
"We're going to that big white building over there," said Ella. "That's Gringotts." She led them to the building, and the girls managed to disturb the goblin guards by cooing over how 'cute' they were. Once past the outer doors, they all read the words in silver above the inner doors. A clever warning in a rhyme, which was also a spell that the reader cast upon themselves. Inside, over a hundred goblins were working at various counters, exchanging money, weighing gold nuggets, and examining gemstones. Grabbing Harry's arm, she pulled him up to a free goblin teller.
"May I help you?" sneered the goblin.
"Hello," greeted Harry. "I was informed that my parents may have had accounts with your bank at the time of their deaths. I was hoping you could help me determine if this is so, and to access those accounts should the prove to exist." Harry looked a bit embarrassed. "I'm afraid that I don't have a key or anything, but I hope that clever beings like goblins would have a method for replacing lost keys."
"Indeed. And what is your name, sir?" asked the rather fierce looking goblin. For an answer, Harry lifted his hair from his forehead, revealing the trademark scar to the teller. "I see. Griphook!" he called. "Griphook here can explain the lost key retrieval procedure, Mr. Potter, as well as help you with any withdrawals you need to make today. He will, of course, need to verify your identity."
"Naturally," grinned Harry. "It just wouldn't do to hand over gold to just anyone, now would it?"
"Indeed, Mr. Potter," grinned the goblin. "Griphook, please take care of Mr. Potter and his... entourage," said the teller, nodding to the herd of girlfriends waiting in the lobby. "Perhaps a private room is in order. It has been a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Potter. If you need further assistance beyond that which Griphook can provide, my name is Grimshard."
"The pleasure was mine, Grimshard. Hello, Griphook. Shall we retire to that private room now?"
"Yes, sir. If you and your party would follow me, I have a private room ready for you. A rather large room, given the size of your entourage.
After Harry and the girls were settled around a large conference table, Griphook placed a special parchment and quill pen down before Harry. "This, Mr. Potter, is a variation of a blood quill. It is designed to use the writer's own blood, magically extracted, as its ink. The parchment is charmed to create your family tree, using a combination of your blood, magical signature, and the extensive bloodline records maintained by Gringotts. Just sign you name here at the bottom, and the parchment will verify your family line, Mr. Potter."
"Will this hurt?" he asked.
"Only for a moment, after which the injury will heal over. It takes numerous repetitions with a blood quill in order to cause permanent injury."
"Right then, let's get this part over with..." Harry signed the bottom of the parchment, wincing as his signature was cut into the back of his hand for a moment. As the cut healed over, lines began to appear on the parchment. His family tree was being written before his eyes, as his parents' names were written, then their parents, and so on. The names continued to span farther and farther back, with the parchment growing longer and wider are more and more ancestors were revealed.
Eventually, they reached the end of Gringotts records, and the detailed family tree sank into the parchment. In its place, a list of wizarding family names – and their vault numbers – began to appear on the page. He saw the Potter name, as well as several others. A few of them were rather strange sounding. "Gryffindor? Hufflepuff? Ravenclaw? Slytherin?" he read aloud. "What kind of names are these?"
"Rather famous ones, actually," said Ella. "Those are four of the most powerful wizarding bloodlines out there. The founders of those lines also founded Hogwarts over a thousand years ago. And you are the sole heir to all four families!"
"Yes, there was another heir to the Slytherin family fortunes, but he ceased to be on the night he attempted to kill you, Mr. Potter." Griphook grinned evilly. "You appear to now own all shares of the wizarding world's most prestigious institution of higher learning."
"Huh?"
"Harry! You own Hogwarts!" squealed Ella.
"Now, you appear to be the heir to six major vaults, plus another seventeen minor accounts..." began Griphook.
When Harry and the girls walked out of Gringotts, they each carried a heavy pouch full of wizarding gold. Harry, as it turns out, was the heir to a fortune that measured in the billions of galleons (the gold coins of wizarding currency.) He was incredibly wealthy, and he had chosen to share that wealth with his girls – just as they had always shared whatever they had with him. Besides the coin, he also had a thick stack of Gringotts bank drafts, to cover larger expenses in increments of 1,000, 10,000, and 100,000 galleons, should the need arise.
"So, Ella, were do you suggest we start shopping?" asked Harry. Like the other girls, she had been given a heavy pouch of gold.
"If we're going to do some heavy duty shopping, then I would suggest we start with luggage. In the magical world, you can obtain trunks that can hold a great deal of possessions. There are more expensive models that are feather light, and some that can even shrink down small enough to carry in your pocket. Since money really isn't an issue for you, I believe that such a trunk would be an excellent place to start."
"Bloody brilliant! To the luggage store!"
"Hello, how may I assist you today? Looking for a school trunk?" asked a rather cheerful looking man... apparently a salesman (or is that sales-wizard?) for the store.
"Ah, yes. Hello," greeted Harry, laying on the Potter charm. "My lovely young friends and I are in fact looking to purchase school trunks. We decided to make a group outing out of it. Now, I understand that you can provide some more advanced models of trunks? Ella here recommended your fine establishment, as she recalled this shop having several trunks with the latest in security features, feather-weight and resizing charms, not to mention the very largest in expanded interiors."
"You do realize that such features are rather expensive additions to a trunk? Also, some of the more advanced security features are restricted to Ministry personnel only – specifically aurors."
"Really? How peculiar..." mused Harry, subtly brushing aside his bangs as he scratched his head in thought. The sales-wizard looked surprised at the sight of the scar. "Despite such restrictions, I'm sure we can come to some sort of accommodation..." he drawled, casually fanning himself with the Gringotts bank drafts – the one for 100,000 galleons clearly visible on the top. "After all, we're just a bunch of children, not a group of hardened criminals or the like."
"Oh, I'm sure that those pesky restrictions weren't written to keep things from children." The shopkeeper grinned slyly. "Especially not such a remarkable child as yourself."
"I am glad that we understand one another. Now, what's the best trunk you have? What are the best features? Do you have any models that can be connected internally? So that I could move from one expanded interior to another without exiting one trunk to reach the other?"
After about an hour, Harry paid a total of 256,400 galleons for his rather unique trunk. It was an experimental model, something that was being developed to market for the aurors. This special trunk had the ability to 'up-link' to specially designed 'satellite' trunks – something like an internal, totally secure floo network, using doorway portals instead of fireplaces. The concept had not really sold well, because of the prohibitive cost of the central 'hub' trunk, and the vast amounts of magical power needed to create or forge the 'up-link' portals. Luckily for Harry, he was an extremely powerful young wizard, fully capable of forging 'up-links'. It would take a bit of time to figure out how, but he wasn't worried about it.
Both the 'hub' and 'satellite' trunks were magically protected, self-shrinkable (i.e. no wand needed), feather-light, expanded on the inside, and shielded from magical monitoring by the Ministry. The 'satellite' trunks had three oversized compartments and a fourth that was a studio apartment, while the 'hub' trunk had the equivalent of a small mansion inside. Ella informed him that the shielding feature was worth the price alone, since it would allow underage witches and wizards to practice magic during the summer (something she herself could no do at present).
The 'hub' trunk had rooms to suite many purposes. There was a potions lab, an apothecary storeroom, a library (currently empty), several work rooms for various spell crafting tasks, a greenhouse, gardens, and exercise room. In addition to these special rooms were a full compliment of normal ones: kitchen, pantry, dining room, bath, master chambers, dorms, study, office, lounge, and even a game room. There were several empty rooms that could be customized later. Finally, there was a long, narrow room full of doorways, 100 in all, that could be linked to 'satellite' trunks.
Planning for the future, Harry purchased a full 100 'satellite' trunks, 37 of which were given to his squib girls (Ella wasn't part of the group, so she didn't get one.) Since the remaining 63 trunks were not connected to the trunk network, Harry was able to store them in one of the unfurnished rooms. Already, he had vague plans of using excess trunks to create his own private transportation network. After all, he had inherited multiple real estate locations as part of his inheritance.
Now that they had their own private space, they would need to furnish all the rooms. They would need beds, couches, chairs, tables, linens, carpets, and all the rest. Thankfully, Harry was filthy stinking rich. The girls would be able to furnish their new apartments, as well as Harry's secret mansion. Harry's main concern was stocking up the apothecary, potions lab, greenhouse, and libraries.
Taking a great risk, he set the squib girls free to shop in Diagon Alley, while he had Ella guide him through the rest of his school supply list. Once they were finished, he would visit all the stores the girls had made purchases from, and transfer the larger items into the trunks. Soon enough, he had managed to get everything he needed – including a full stock of potions material and supplies – except for his wizarding clothes and his wand.
He started the squib girls with getting fitted for witches robes, while Ella took him over to Olivander's for his wand. "Harry, do you think it was wise to turn the girls loose with that much money?" asked his guide to all things magical.
"Um... probably not, now that you mention it." Harry sighed. "I'll just have to hope that they don't get into too much trouble before they're finished."
"I thought I'd be seeing you sometime soon, Mr. Potter." The voice came out of the shadows behind them, scaring the daylights out of both Ella and Harry. Mr. Olivander emerged from his hiding place to gaze at Harry with his disturbing silver-white eyes. "It seems like only yesterday that your parents were in here buying their first wands..."
"Mr. Olivander, I presume?" interrupted Harry. With thirty-seven girls running rampant through the Alley, he didn't want to waste time on drawn out stories about the past. Now that he knew the way, he could come back on his own to hear them. "If I may ask, are there any Ministry restrictions on how many wands a wizard may own?" Having just one wand seemed rather... stupid. They were made from wood! A thin wooden rod was rather breakable!
"Such an odd question for such a young wizard, Mr. Potter. Truthfully, there is no legal restriction, since very few people are able to bond to more than one wand at a time. In fact, after finding their first match, few seldom even think about obtaining another unless their first one is somehow damaged. However, it is rare for a wand to share its wizard – for it is the wand that chooses the wizard, not the other way around."
"Really?" he asked. Now, why would it matter... "So, I would hazard to guess that a wand needs to be compatible with the wizard in question... magic to magic, so to speak." Yes, that makes sense, he thought. "Then an incompatible wand would give a wizard unreliable, possibly even unpredictable results? Possibly even no result at all?" Mr. Olivander nodded. "But, would a wizard find that one particular wand would be best suited for a certain branch of magic, while another wand would be better suited for a different branch? For instance, one wand being better for Charms while another for Transfiguration, yet both working well for the wizard in question?"
"My, my, Mr. Potter. You are a most unusual young wizard," beamed Mr. Olivander. "You are also very correct. Certain wands are predisposed for Charms, Transfiguration, or even the Darker Arts. Both the type of wood and the core itself lend themselves towards certain magics. Swishy wands tend to be better for Charms work – which can be a more delicate magic – while stronger, more rigid wands often favor Transfiguration. You have a keen grasp of magical theory, Mr. Potter."
"Could you recommend any volumes on the theory and practice of wand making? I find myself to be insatiably interested in the various ways woods and cores interact. I would like to read a bit further on the mechanics, if you will, behind magic wands."
"I believe that I could round up a few pertinent volumes to quench your thirst for knowledge. But first, we need to find your wand, Mr. Potter." He took out a tape measure, and began to take various measurements. "Which is you wand hand?"
"I am right handed, but I have learned to make almost full use of my left," replied Harry. "Now, if a wand needs to properly resonate with my own magical signature, then it would stand to reason that it would respond to a release of my magic. The wand or wands suitable to me would be sensed by me upon such an unleashing of magical energy." Olivander nodded slightly to himself. "Well, let's see how that works..."
Harry summoned up a pulse of his raw magic, and released it in a minor shock wave that raced through the wand shop. As it expanded outwards, he felt a sort of echo bounce back at him from several locations. Mr. Olivander looked on with interest as Harry used this magical sonar method to seek out those wands that resonated with his signature. He then went down the aisles to collect the wand boxes that had returned his magical call.
"These seem to respond to me, sir," informed Harry.
"Very well, Mr. Potter. Let us see how well you theory has translated into reality," stated Mr. Olivander. The first wand was very swishy, made from willow. "A good one for Charms work," noted the wand maker. The next was made from a rather rigid oak, and, "A rather powerful Transfiguration wand," according to the expert. He had five more 'specialty' wands, made from rowan, aspen, walnut, ebony, and wormwood. These were suited for Healing, Shielding, Dueling, Jinxes/Hexes/Curses, and Dark Arts respectively. Mr. Olivander looked a bit concerned by the last wand, but somehow Harry Potter did not seem the type to fall victim to the addictive qualities of the darker magics.
The last wand he had selected was what Harry would come to call his 'all-purpose' wand. It was made from holly, and had a phoenix tail feather for its core. This wand was the best overall match, as it resonated highly with most branches of magic. (The 'specific' use wands resonated higher in their branch, but quite a bit lower in all the others.) It was this wand, however, that drew Mr. Olivander's interest most.
"Curious. Most curious indeed," the wand maker mused to himself.
"Pardon, Mr. Olivander, but what is so curious about this wand?" asked Harry. He had a total of eight wands. Why would this one be so much more unusual that the other seven?
"Mr. Potter, I remember every wand I have ever sold. Every single one. The curious thing is that the phoenix whose tail feather resides in your holly wand gave another feather. Just one other feather. It is indeed curious that this wand was destined for your use, when its brother gave you that scar." He pointed to Harry's forehead. "Though, I suppose I should have expected it, given the source of the feathers in your other wands."
"Oh?" asked Harry. "And where did those phoenix tail feathers come from?"
"Your other wands, Mr. Potter, are all sibling wands. Sister wands, to be precise. You see, the feathers in each of them all came from the same phoenix. As I understand it, those seven feathers were the only ones given by a female phoenix, who happens to be the firstborn child of he who gave the other two feathers."
"That is interesting," agreed Harry. "So my special purpose wands are child-wand to my primary one?"
"You could say that, Mr. Potter. I shall be expecting great things from you, Mr. Potter. After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things as well. Terrible, but great."
"Wow!" squeaked Ella, who had until then remained forgotten in the shadows. "You have almost the same wand as You-Know-Who!"
"You do realize that that is the most ridiculous thing to call him, don't you? Didn't the guy have a first name?" asked Harry. "Somehow, I doubt that his parents named him 'Lord'. It sounds like something he made up himself."
"He was not always known by the name which inspires such fear in the hearts of witches and wizards the world over, Mr. Potter," replied Mr. Olivander. "Once upon a time, I sold a yew wand with a phoenix feather core to a young muggle raised boy named Tom Marvolo Riddle. Over time, that boy was replaced by the dark menace that met his end at your childhood home, Mr. Potter."
"Thanks for the info, Mr. Olivander. Now, before we settle up, do you happen to sell wand holsters? I find that I need one. Make that several. Oh, and do you have those books you mentioned?"
Mr. Olivander did have several wand holsters available, including a customized design that could hold up to ten wands. It was a model requested by aurors, to hold the wands of prisoners. Harry, of course, purchased two – one for his wands, and one for just in case. After collecting several books, and the titles of several more for purchase elsewhere, he handed Mr. Olivander a nice little pile of gold for the items. He then added a small bonus, for the information about the Dark Lord once named Tom.
"Well, we've got some time before you can start collecting the girls," began Ella, "why don't we go get you a pet."
"Okay. My letter says first years can have a cat, toad, or owl. Any recommendations?" asked Harry.
"Well, toads aren't really popular anymore. I hear they were rather fashionable about a hundred years ago, but that was a bit of a fad, really. Cats are good, since they can learn to boost some magics. Oh, and they keep rats away from your dorm. However, most people go for owls. Magic folk use owls to carry their mail – sometimes they also use eagles, hawks, or falcons, but owls are the best. There's a store down the street that sells owls and owl accessories."
"Wizards accessorize their owls?" chuckled Harry.
"Not like that!" scoffed Ella. "I mean things like cages, perches, and owl treats."
"Ah! Cool. Let's go take a look at owls then. Maybe I'll find one that suits me." Harry let Ella lead him over to Eeylops Owl Emporium. Inside, they found all sorts of owls, from tiny screech owls that fit in the one's hand, to enormous eagle owls that could crush a man's head with their mighty talons. "See anything you like?" she asked, after several minutes of browsing.
"It is not so much seeing as feeling," replied Harry, who was currently standing in the center of the store with his eyes closed. "An owl would make a good familiar, but for a bond to form I need to find one that can match up with my magical signature."
"Alright, buddy! You need to stop reading your school books until after you get them home," scolded Ella. "You are absorbing too much technical mumbo-jumbo from that tome on magical theory."
"Sorry," he blushed, "but that book explains a lot of what I have already managed to do on my own."
"That's okay. So, any of these owls 'feel' right to you?" she asked.
"I like the feelings I get off of the snowy owl in the back corner." Both children walked over to the indicated owl. It was a female, and possessed a rather dignified stance for a post owl. "You seem like a nice owl to me, girl. So, what do you think?" The owl looked at him, cocking her head from side to side as she eyed him carefully. Finally, she bobbed her head once in acceptance of her new master. "Well, come on up." He held out his arm, the owl hopped on, then climbed up onto his shoulder.
"That's kind of freaky," admitted Ella. "I've never seen an owl take to somebody that quickly."
"What can I say?" asked Harry. "I want my owl to be the smartest one out there!" At his words, a burst of magic flared out from him, surrounding his as yet un-purchased owl. She appeared to glow for a moment, then resumed her normal look.
"Hey!" shouted the proprietor. "You start messing with an owl, you'd best be buying it!"
"Uh... sorry about that, sir," replied Harry. "I'm not exactly sure what I just did... but I had intended to purchase this fine owl already. So, no real harm done. I will also need a cage, a couple of sturdy perch stands, and of course several boxes of owl treats." His soon-to-be owl hooted happily. "Like owl treats, do you girl?" She nipped his ear affectionately.
"You are one freaky kid, Harry," whispered Ella. "I like you and all that, but you are rather strange."
"Thanks, I think," grinned Harry.
"Can we look in the Magical Menagerie?" asked Ella. "My folks won't let me have an owl, but they should accept a cat. Now that I have a bit of spending money," she held up her heavy belt purse, "I hope to find one that I like."
"Lead on, Gunga Din!"
"You're impossible!" chuckled Ella.
They moved farther down the Alley, waving to the squib girls running here and there on their spending sprees. The pair could hear and smell the Menagerie before they could see it. That many animals in such a confined space was like a mini-zoo. When they stepped inside, it was like nothing Harry had ever seen before.
There were sleek black rats, who were busy performing all sorts of tricks inside their cages. He saw several types of cats, some cat-like creatures called kneazles, and a variety of cat sized mammals. Along the side wall were enormous purple toads, neon orange poisonous snails, and a vicious looking lizard. In the window was a large tortoise, with a shell covered in precious gemstones. And, deep in the back, he found several breeds of snakes.
Ella was busy looking at the felines, so Harry went over to the snakes. For years now, he had felt a sort of communion with the leg-less reptiles. 'His' park back in Surrey was full of them, and they seemed to obey his wishes of avoiding the many children who played there.
:I am so bored: one of the snakes seemed to complain.
:Why complain: hissed another. :It is warm here, the wizard brings us mice, and nothing can eat us. What more do you want:
:Don't mind her: said a third. :She is shedding again. You know how shedding one's skin makes one ill tempered.: There were hisses of agreement.
"What would you do if you were free?" whispered Harry.
:I would find something other than mice to eat.: The small, bright green snake reared up to look at Harry. :One grows so tired of mice.:
"I know of a nice park. It is rather sunny, and it has a pond with many small frogs," said Harry.
:And birds? I always enjoyed a nice bird.:
"Yes, there are many birds there, too."
:I think I would like that place.:
"If you will let me, I can take you there," said Harry.
:I will trust you, wizard.: Harry opened the small snakes cage, and the little female snake slithered up his arm, curling herself around his left bicep. :Take me to your park now.: He took the snake to the counter, where Ella was paying for an adorable cream colored kitten.
"Find something to your liking?" he asked.
"Yes! Isn't she adorable?" asked Ella. "I'm going to name her Andromeda. So, did you find anyth- Aargh!" Ella jumped back as the small snake peeked out from under the sleeve of Harry's shirt. "What is that?"
"Oh her? She's just hitching a ride out of here," said Harry. :This is my friend, Ella: he said to the snake. :Please don't bite her.:
:As you wish, wizard.:
"Harry! You can talk to snakes?" squeaked Ella. "Bloody hell, you're a parselmouth!"
"I'm a what?"
"Parselmouth! You can talk to snakes!"
"Oh, that. I didn't know there was a name for it. Is that a problem?"
"Um... you may want to keep it a secret. Talking to snakes is considered to be Dark magic. From what I've heard, You-Know-Who was a parselmouth."
"In that case, let's just keep this between the two of us."
Harry spent the next three hours moving from store to store, settling up accounts for items purchased by his girls, shrinking items (no one had told him he couldn't do magic yet!), moving them into various trunks, and restoring them to their normal sizes. He was rather surprised by the amount of money thirty-seven young girls could spend in so short a time. It was enough to beggar a moderately wealthy family.
After settling up at Flourish and Blotts bookstore, Obscurus Books, Scribbulus Everchanging Inks, Slug & Jiggers Apothecary, the cauldron shop, Gambol & Japes wizarding joke shop, the junk shop, and several furniture and furnishings stores, he led his heard of girlfriends over to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. The girls all wanted witch clothing, and he needed to get himself some wizarding robes for school.
"Harry, are you really going to buy us clothes?"
"Can we get anything we want?"
"I think the robes the witches wear are awesome!"
"Do you know how a magical seamstress does a fitting?"
"Girls, girls! Let's just go inside and find out!" He led them inside, where the proprietress, Madam Malkin, looked rather shocked by the number of customers entering. "Hello, Madam Malkin I presume? The girls and I find ourselves in need of some non-muggle clothing."
"Oh my! There are so many of you! This may take some time!"
"Not to worry, ma'am. I can ensure that you will be well compensated for you time." Harry flashed her the remaining bank drafts. "My girls want to get new robes, and I mean to get them new robes."
"Of course, sir," agreed a suddenly much more pleasant seamstress. "Now, why don't the young ladies take a look at what I have available, while I begin taking everyone's measurements?" Upon hearing that, the girls all dashed over to the clothing racks, rooting through displays of robes, dresses, skirts, and blouses. "Oh! Oh dear!" exclaimed the witch.
"Just let them browse, ma'am, while you start measuring me," instructed Harry. "I need the full Hogwarts set, and possibly some nice robes for everyday and formal wear. The ladies will need... well, whatever strikes their fancy."
By the time they left Madam Malkin's, the shop was a near disaster area. Each of the girls now had dozens of witchy outfits, and they each had donned one set of robes to wear around the Alley. Harry, too, had donned a set of robes – he made quite a good looking young wizard, despite the Potter hair. Despite the devastation, Madam Malkin was one happy (if exhausted) witch. Such a large sales day meant her profits were way up for the month. And, most of the Hogwarts students had not even purchased their school robes yet! Best of all, these were growing children, so they would need wardrobe updates for several years to come.
After finishing their shopping spree, Harry and the girls headed back to Surrey. The rest of their summer would be spent delving through the many magical tomes purchased that day. With his already developed magical skills and self-discovered magical theory, Harry was able to rapidly progress through the first year materials. The girls were an asset in codifying further theories and laws of the various branches of magic.
With the deluxe potions brewing equipment he had purchased, Harry managed to brew up many useful concoctions. The books he had found detailing common potions mistakes, the basic, intermediate, and advanced rules of ingredients, flame temperatures, and stirring explained why certain ingredients could not be combined, specific temperatures were required, and what quick clockwise stirring could do that a slower counter-clockwise one could not. The rules were detailed and complex, but knowing them made potions a much easier subject to practice.
Astronomy was simplified by the large crystal model of the galaxy that he had indulged himself with, for he could readily call up the visible constellations for any given day whenever he wanted. The placement of the heavenly bodies could influence other magics, especially potions, herbology, and divination. Care of certain magical creatures sometimes depended on lunar cycles – werewolves, for example. The moon's pull sometimes drastically changed the properties of certain potions ingredients, thereby necessitating when they could be harvested.
Charms and Transfiguration turned out to be more of a case of mind over matter. After careful study, one of the girls – a shy red-head named Jamie – determined that all the incantations and wand movements were little more that pneumonic devices to help under-powered witches and wizards focus their power on the task at hand. Spells, hexes, jinxes, curses, and the like could be performed without speech or wand movements. All that was required was a more intense mental discipline – a firmer focus, if you will. Several of the more advanced books mentioned this to be true, but few in the magical community ever bothered to learn the discipline to accomplish silent magic, let alone to cast spells without wand movements.
Healing turned out to be a mix of spell casting and potions brewing. Both Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures were rather self explanatory. For that matter, so were Ancient History, Muggle Studies, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Divination.
Arithmancy and Ancient Runes were rather interesting, despite only being offered starting in the third year. The first dealt with applying mathematical principles to spell work. With it, one could measure and refine a know spell, or even craft an entirely new magical effect. The latter branch detailed how to inscribe magical effects into symbols of power. When combined together, these two branches of study allowed for the creation of magical artifacts, including such items as pensieves and time turners.
Drawing from all the source information they had available, Harry and the girls began to simplify and condense the principles and theories of magic into new instructional texts. They were the first books written to learn magic from a muggle perspective, drawing references to popular fiction, scientific examples, and other muggle cultural examples.
Almost before they knew it, September 1st arrived.
In answer to questions posed by reviewers:
Wavefunction: Don't expect it. I will follow cannon except where forced into AU by changed events.
DestroyerDRT: Yes, she will... among others.
fopalup1: I may skip a book or two, if I think my AU warrants it. No plans for a squib house – at least nothing that the teaching staff knows about!
To everyone else who expressed interest in my version of the story... Thanks! I hope you like what comes next.